George Washington University Athletics
Men's Basketball Picked 5th in A-10 Preseason Poll
10/24/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 24, 2006
ATLANTIC CITY, NJ -- Defending regular season champion George Washington (27-3/16-0), which had the best winning percentage (.900) in the country last season, was selected fifth in the Atlantic 10 men's basketball race, according to a poll of the Atlantic 10's head coaches and media released at today's Media Day at Boardwalk Hall, the site of the 2007 A-10 Championship.
Xavier is the overwhelming choice as the team to beat according to the poll. The Musketeers received 59 of the 64 first-place votes cast by the panel of coaches and media. Xavier (21-11/8-8) returns five starters from last year's A-10 championship team - the only team in NCAA history to twice win four games in four days to claim a league title. Massachusetts received four first-place votes and place second in the preseason poll. The Minutemen are followed by Saint Louis (16-13/10-6), which was chosen third in the poll. Charlotte (19-13/11-5), GW, Dayton (14-17/6-10), Fordham (16-16/9-7), Saint Joseph's (19-13/9-7), Temple (17-15/8-8), La Salle (18-10/10-6), Rhode Island (14-14/8-8), Richmond (13-17/6-10), Duquesne (3-24/1-15), and St. Bonaventure (8-19/2-14) round out the preseason prognostication.
In that same poll, the coaches and media selected the preseason All-Conference teams. The first-team is comprised of Alexander, Burrell, Freeman, Vouyoukas, and Fordham's Bryant Dunston. The second-team features Cage, George Washington teammates Carl Elliott and Maureece Rice, the A-10's Sixth Man of the Year last season, A-10 Rookie of the Year Tommie Liddell of Saint Louis, and Dayton's Brian Roberts. On the third-team are Doellman, Lavender, Charlotte's Leemire Goldwire, Stephane Lasme of Massachusetts, and Kevin Lisch of Saint Louis.
The preseason All-Defensive team consists of Cage, Dunston, Elliott, Goldwire, and Lasme. The All-Rookie team boasts Charlotte's David Booker, Jawan Carter of Saint Joseph's, Temple's Luis Guzman, Damian Hollis of George Washington, and Tiki Mayben of UMass.
GW (27-3, 16-0 A-10) is coming off the best campaign in the 92-season history of the program. GW concluded the regular season with a 26-1 mark that included a school-record 18-game winning streak. The Colonials won all 16 Atlantic 10 Conference games en route to the regular-season title and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as a No. 8 seed. The Colonials defeated No. 9-seed UNC Wilmington in the first round Mar. 16 before falling to overall No. 1 seed Duke in the second round on Mar. 18, in Greensboro, NC, as part of the Atlanta Regional.
2006-07 A-10 Preseason All-Conference Teams (as selected by coaches and media)
FIRST TEAM
De'Angelo Alexander, Charlotte
Stanley Burrell, Xavier
Bryant Dunston, Fordham
Rashaun Freeman, UMass
Ian Vouyoukas, Saint Louis
SECOND TEAM
Carl Elliott, GW
Maureece Rice, GW
Justin Cage, Xavier
Tommie Liddell, Saint Louis
Brian Roberts, Dayton
THIRD TEAM Justin Doellman, Xavier
Leemire Goldwire, Charlotte
Stephane Lasme, UMass
Drew Lavender, Xavier
Kevin Lisch, Saint Louis
ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
Carl Elliott, GW
Justin Cage, Xavier
Bryant Dunston, Fordham
Leemire Goldwire, Charlotte
Stephane Lasme, UMass
ROOKIE TEAM
Damian Hollis, GW
David Booker, Charlotte
Jawan Carter, Saint Joseph's
Luis Guzman, Temple
Tiki Mayben, UMass
